Category Archives: Inner promptings

I have noticed I’ve been getting somewhat better at recognizing guidance for the larger issues in my life, but I still sometimes miss the smaller intuitive nudges that come my way. I had written about this very subject two years ago, and it appears I still have so much more to learn.

I am beginning to realize that these nudges do happen. They happened four times in the last two days, and I didn’t recognize or honor one of them! They were quick little thoughts I had and then just as quickly discarded. I didn’t recognize them as my Internal Guidance System! They seemed so subtle. I just didn’t realize how important these thoughts were.

So, here are some examples. The first couple were not about anything life-altering; they simply would have made my life a little easier had I listened. But the third and fourth ones! Why, oh why, did I not listen???

I was going with my sister out to do an errand or two. I had the thought to bring my sneakers and the book I was reading. I discarded both thoughts because I rationalized I was going to be with her and I wouldn’t have time to read a book or take a walk. Well, as it happened, we passed an art fair in town. If I’d had my sneakers, we could have enjoyed the art fair. And then when she went into the pharmacy to collect a prescription, she was there quite a while. I could have been reading my book. (See? Nothing earth-shattering. Just simple guidance.)

I went to the grocery store and one of the items I picked up was a carton of eggs. I was going to check to see if any of the eggs were cracked—in fact my hand was on the carton ready to open it, but it was one of those overlapping plastic things and it felt like “too much work” to open two flaps. (Ridiculous, I know.) I thought, Oh, if there happens to be one cracked egg, no big deal. Well, when I got home I went to put some eggs in a pan to hard boil them for egg salad and, guess what, two eggs were missing from the carton!

I went to the bank to make a deposit. While in my car, I got out my phone to call my brother-in-law to remind him to take out the giblets before he put the turkey in the oven. But when I went to make the call, it wasn’t going through; it just wasn’t working. I had the urge to call and I didn’t extend the extra effort to find a way to get through rationalizing that I’d be home within half an hour or so anyway.

After the bank I had the thought to run home to my sister’s house before going on to the grocery store for some items we needed for dinner that night. But I discarded the idea thinking that I could probably finish the errand and be home within half an hour.

So, why was it important that I listen to my inner guidance? While I was sitting in the car at the bank, my brother-in-law was lying on the floor with a fractured hip. If I had called and gotten no answer, I probably would have stopped home before going to get the groceries and I would have seen him and could then have called the EMTs that much sooner. As it turned out, my brother-in-law was lying on the floor in great pain for about an hour before my sister arrived home, rushing in the door, heart in her throat, because he hadn’t been answering any of her calls.

So, the upshot is this. I’m guessing we all get these little thoughts all the time. And many times we probably just rationalize them away. But we have this Inner Guidance System for a reason, as I hope the above illustrates.

Sometimes our inner self (or whatever Force or Being puts those thoughts in our head) is wiser than we realize. We just need to listen better.

Note: This was originally published on my website (www.cynthiagreb.com) in April 2016.

We live in a culture that, by and large, values the rationality of the mind over the less easily explained abilities of our intuition. But those who begin to honor those little nudges, gut feelings, and subtle inner promptings often find, over and over again, how wise their intuition can be.
I have learned that I ignore my intuition at my peril. Sometimes, I lose money when I don’t listen to my intuition. Other times, more serious things may occur. Always, it seems, my intuition knows what is best.

A week ago, I needed to find transportation from Denver to my hometown four hours away. I had put out the word through a local Facebook group that I was looking for a ride if anyone was going my way. I had had a couple leads but the timing was off – they were either passing through Denver just before or several days after I needed to return. So my last option was the bus.
Now this is a perfectly good bus, but with my luggage, it would cost me $52 and money was tight as I’d gone through my minimal savings on a trip home to see my mother. But when my day of departure became imminent, I had to face the fact that I would probably need to just bite the bullet and order the darn bus ticket. But something was holding me back. I had the smallest niggling thought that I should wait. And I did, in fact, wait an hour or two. But then my mind started nagging me. “What are you waiting for?” it said. “Surely you’re not going to miraculously get a ride at this late stage of the game!”
If I had been wise, I would have argued with my mind. I would have said, “Actually, miracles do happen, you know. And so do ‘happy coincidences.’ And so do last minute rides. It won’t hurt to simply wait a few more hours.”
But I was silly and I listened to my mind and bought the ticket.
Not one hour later, I got a call from the person who had been planning on driving to my hometown several days into the future. Apparently circumstances had changed and he was going tomorrow. Did I still want to come along?
Yes, I certainly did. But damn it! Why did I buy that darn ticket?!!!

Some lessons cost more than money. Several years ago I had a small job driving this absolutely delightful older woman to the hospital to get blood transfusions. I would pick her up at her assisted living apartment, drive her and her wheelchair to the hospital, help her from the car and wheel her to the appropriate department, keep her company and attend to her needs while she was getting transfused, and then drive her home. I truly enjoyed this job as I truly enjoyed this woman. She was smart and funny and had fascinating life stories.
Well, the transfusions were occurring about every three weeks and my last time taking her had been first week or so of December. A couple weeks later, with Christmas approaching, I found myself thinking of her. I found myself thinking how nice it would be if I dropped in on her to say hi, maybe bringing a gift with me. I kept thinking how nice it would be for her to know that I truly cared about her as a person, not just someone who paid me to do a job. But I “got busy,” as we are wont to do, and I never went.
Around the beginning of January, I got the news that she had died.
That was a sad, sad lesson in what can happen when we don’t listen to our intuition.

A month or two after this woman had passed, I began to get calls from various family members which began raising little red flags in my mind. My Mom’s health was deteriorating a bit, Dad’s memory was starting to fail, and both my brother and my sister were having issues with either their health or their significant other. I began to get a strong sense that I was needed at home.
Now, financial instability happens to be a recurring theme in my life. Sometimes I am a bit flush and sometimes I can barely feed myself. At this particular time, another regular client had died and money was scarce. Buying a round-trip ticket home was not a possibility at that time. But thanks to the painful lesson I learned with Nan, I decided to find a way.
So I made an announcement at the spiritual gathering I went to on Sunday mornings. I told them about my client who had passed away before I’d taken the time to go see her, and I told them about the nagging feeling that I needed to get home for a visit because I was worried about my family. And bless their generous hearts, someone gave me their frequent flyer miles and a few others donated some money for the trip. I quickly booked a flight, arrived home, and just a few short days later, Mom had a serious heart attack followed by a small stroke. I ended up staying to help with her rehabilitation and care, and I tried to be there for the rest of my family as well. In fact, I ended up staying home four years.

Lesson learned! A+ in Listening to My Intuition!
But I don’t always make the grade. I’m currently about 50/50 in listening to my intuition. You would think I’d be wiser by now, but sometimes I still rationalize away that tiny inner voice. My goal is listen more carefully and follow more faithfully. My intuition is a wise guide!

So, friends, please practice the art of listening to that still small voice. It’s very smart and it definitely has your best interest at heart.